CHAPTER ONE: 1.1 Background to the study
Generally, a power outage can be identified as a power cut, power failure or blackout. This can be addressed as loss of electricity power to a specific area. Nevertheless, there are different causes of power failure in electricity which can easily cause damages to human and business operations. It is fairly settled in the literature that infrastructure plays a critical and positive role in economic development. Infrastructure interacts with the economy through multiple and complex processes. It represents an intermediate input to production, and thus changes in infrastructure quality and quantity affect the profitability of production, and invariably the levels of income, output and employment. Moreover, infrastructure services raise the productivity of other factors of production (Kessides, 1993).
Currently in Nigeria, lack of electricity supply is one of major infrastructure problem affecting the business sector. The typical Nigerian firm experiences power failure or voltage fluctuations about seven times per week, each lasting for about two hours, without the benefit of prior warning which may likely cause damages such as spoiled materials, lost output, damaged electronic electronic equipment, restarting cost operations and distraction of business operations(Adenikinju, 2005, p.3) .
In Nigeria, the National Electric Power Authority (NEPA) now Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) is responsible for power supply in Nigeria. However, the failure of NEPA to provide adequate and reliable electricity to consumers despite billions of Naira of investment expenditure has generated a confidence crisis in the industry. Public confidence in NEPA’s ability to supply uninterrupted and stable electric power is so low that consumers have coined a term for the organization’s acronym NEPA as “Never Expect Power Always”.

1.2 Statement of the problem
The inability to have energy to drive the wheel of progress of manufacturing and trading is our major headache. And when you don‘t have the required infrastructural facilities, investors are scared away. And some of business people have been taking their businesses to other countries where these essential things found. The inefficiency of NEPA imposes a huge cost on the economy. In 1990, the World Bank estimated the economic loss to the country from NEPA’s inefficiency, at about N1 billion Nigeria Naira (Adenikinju 2005, p.3) .Power failures in Nigeria is a debilitating problem that needs be addressed. The envisioned growth of the economy cannot be achieved without improved electricity supplies, and there are crippling the inefficiency of NEPA imposes a huge cost on the economy. In 1990, the World Bank estimated the economic loss to the country from Nepa’s inefficiency, at about N1 billion Nigeria Naira (Adenikinju 2005, p.3). Power failure in Nigeria is a debilitating problem that needs be addressed. The envisioned growth of the economy cannot be achieved without improved electricity supplies, and there are crippling multiplier effects associated with thousands of small businesses throughout the country not having access to uninterrupted power supply to run their flour mills, printing presses, restaurants, cybercafés and clinics.
Putting any one of these businesses out of work at any given point in time, due to power failure, has a direct impact on the growth and expansion of the business, which in turn feeds unemployment, keeps wages low and negatively impacts workers’ ability to provide financial support to their families. No nation can achieve economic development and industrialization without adequate and regular power supply. Nigeria has what it takes and this government must raise to its responsibilities, as very clearly echoed in a statement by the US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton (Nasirschronicles, 2009). 1.3 Objectives of the study
This research work has the following as its objectives:

* To access the factors affecting the efficiency of PHCN ; * To find out the effect of poor power supply on the economy; * To find out how the problem of poor power supply can be tackled;

1.4 Research questions
This study seeks to achieve the stated objectives by providing answers to the following questions:

* What are the factors affecting the efficiency of PHCN? * How does poor power supply affect the economy? * How can the problem of poor power supply be tackled?